Human rights defender Gaspar Matalaev has now spent more than two years in prison for the ‘crime’ of documenting the massive use of forced labour in the cotton fields of Turkmenistan.
Arrested on October 4, 2016, two days after publishing a report on forced labour in that year’s harvest, he was reportedly subjected to torture in order to extract a forced confession to crimes he never committed.
Matalaev remains behind bars despite international protests, pledges by major global apparel brands to refrain from buying cotton from Turkmenistan, and a May 2018 US ban on the import of Turkmen cotton.
The fight to free Gaspar is an integral part of the fight to end forced labour involving thousands of children and adults and the ruthless suppression of freedom of association and free speech by the despotic government of Turkmenistan.
Please take a moment to join almost 90,000 other people in supporting this important campaign which has been endorsed by the International Union of Foodworkers (IUF):
